


Oh, how the tables have turned

by mseg_21



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Bisexual Richie Tozier, College AU, Established Relationship, Fluff and Humor, Gay Eddie Kaspbrak, High School AU, Jealous!Eddie, Jealous!Richie, M/M, Modern AU, Reddie, jealous boyfriends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-26 14:02:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14403642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mseg_21/pseuds/mseg_21
Summary: Richie never thought of himself as a jealous person, that was always Eddie. But now that they're out of Derry and in college and there are guys checking out his boyfriend and flirting with him... Richie might need to reconsider what he used to think about himself.





	Oh, how the tables have turned

Richie had never considered himself to be a jealous person.

When it came to his family, he was an only child, which meant his parents’ undivided attention had always been his. Since he was a baby, Maggie and Wentworth Tozier had eyes only for him. Sure, sometimes that meant he couldn’t get away with half the things he did, but that also meant he never had to worry about the jealousy that came with having a baby brother or a baby sister steal the spotlight from him.

When it came to his friends, the closeness their group shared didn’t leave space for those types of feelings. Richie never felt jealous when Mike and Ben would go get ice cream after hanging out in the library just the two of them or when they’d all be talking about something and Stan and Bill would share a look and laugh at some inside joke he wasn’t a part of or when Eddie and Bev would blow the rest of them off to go shopping together. Richie never felt jealous because they were all best friends, and he had his own inside jokes and private hangouts with all of them.

When it came to his boyfriend, he thought he would be the jealous type but was surprised to find out it was actually Eddie who got jealous all the time, even before they started dating.

Richie had never been popular, after all he was a huge ass nerd and the biggest trashmouth but, as much as the rest of the losers refused to acknowledge it, he was charming and funny, which meant that during parties, there would always be a group of people, mostly girls, surrounding Richie and hanging on to his every word. During those parties, it was also common to find Eddie in some corner of the room, arms crossed over his chest, pouting and glaring at all the girls clinging to Richie and flirting with him.

After the summer before senior year, when Eddie and Richie finally figured their feelings out and started dating, the amount of girls that would flirt with Richie went significantly down, mostly because, during parties, Eddie would be the one clinging to his boyfriend and glaring at any girl who even smiled in Richie’s direction. Being the only same-sex couple in their high school, hell, in their town, meant everyone knew they were together and that Eddie Kaspbrak was a very jealous boyfriend, which meant Richie Tozier was off limits.

Richie remembers one time, a couple of months after getting together, when the seven of them had gone to a party. After an hour or so, Eddie had excused himself to go answer a phone call from his mother. Since he was supposed to be at Bill’s for a sleepover and not at a party he had to go answer it some place where she wouldn’t be able to hear the loud music or the laughing teenagers. Richie had offered to go with him, but Eddie, who knew Richie would use the opportunity to make some joke over the phone that would infuriate his mother, told his boyfriend to stay at the house.

While he waited for Eddie to get back, Richie had been sitting on a couch next to Bill, listening to him talk to some kid from his Art class when someone sat down on his other side. Thinking it might be Eddie he looked up with a smile, only to find a girl grinning down at him. He recognized her as the new girl from his English class. He had spoken to her once before, on her first day when she had ask him where the study hall was. She had given him that same smile when he had answered with one of his Voices.

Using that same voice, he said, “Oi is pleased to see ye, m’lady.”

The girl, Veronica was her name, giggled, “Hello, Richie. I didn’t think I would find you here.”

“Ah yes. Didn’t think a nerd like me would be invited to parties, huh?”

“No, of course not!” She replied, blushing.

Richie laughed and waved her off, “I’m just messing with you.” Veronica giggled in response. “So, how was your first week at the shithole that is Derry High?”

And just like that they started talking, she was nice and she laughed at Richie’s jokes and voices. Richie was so focused telling a story about Mrs. Harris, their Biology teacher, and her past drug problem that he was startled when he felt someone squeeze in the space between him and Bill.

He stopped mid-sentence and turned to see Eddie there.

“Hiya Eds!” Richie said, grinning. But Eddie wasn’t looking at him, she was looking at Veronica’s hand, which was currently on Richie’s shoulder. Richie hadn’t even noticed when it got there.  “Did you talk to your mom?”

Eddie groaned in response. His eyes were glued to the girl’s hand, glaring at it as if hoping it would spontaneously catch on fire.  

“Did you tell her I’d be paying her a visit later?” Richie said, wiggling his eyebrows ridiculously. Veronica giggled at that and squeezed Richie’s shoulder.

“Beep fucking beep, Richie.” Eddie snapped.

Since that was a usual Eddie-response whenever Richie would make a joke about Mrs. K he didn’t think much of it. Instead, he kept on teasing him.

“No need to be jealous, Eddie Spaghetti.” Richie said with a wink. Eddie scoffed.

Feeling left out, Veronica cleared her throat to direct Richie’s attention to her again, she looked at him expectantly.

“Sorry. Eds this is Veronica, she is new to Derry High, she is my English class.” Richie said, looking between them, “Veronica, this is Eddie, my boy-”

Richie’s introduction was interrupted by Eddie grabbing both sides of his face and kissing him square on the mouth. Richie’s words died in his throat and instead, he groaned appreciatively and returned the kiss.

Somewhere between placing his hand on the back of Eddie’s neck and feeling his boyfriend’s thigh occupy the space between his spread legs, he heard Veronica’s awkward “See you later” and felt her get up from the couch and leave. Eddie must have missed it because if anything he only kissed Richie harder.

When Eddie’s mouth left his and started placing kisses on Richie’s neck, he chuckled, “You know she’s gone, right, Eds? No need to keep this up.”

Nuzzling into Richie’s neck, Eddie muttered, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He looked up at Richie, an innocent expression on his face.

Richie rolled his eyes, “You know I was about to introduce you as my boyfriend. You didn’t have to full-on make out with me to prove it.”

“I didn’t hear you complain, though.” Eddie said with a raised eyebrow.

“Hell no. Who would complain about this?” Richie said, looking down at the way their bodies were pressed together on the couch. Eddie chuckled. “But, Eds, you know you don’t have to be jealous. I’ve told you, you’re the only one that I want.” A pause, “Besides Mrs. K, obviously.”

Now it was Eddie who rolled his eyes, but he was laughing when he said, “Shut up, you idiot.” Then he sighed, “I know it’s stupid to get jealous but I can’t help it. It’s like, I see a girl flirt with you and my blood boils and I see red and I just, I don’t know, snap.”

Richie snickered. “You’re fucking adorable when you’re jealous.” He said and then kissed Eddie’s nose.

Eddie scrunched up his face, “I am not adorable, you dick. And it’s not funny either. You would understand if people flirted with me the way they flirt with you.”

“Okay, first of all, people flirt with you. Remember Rebecca from the ice cream parlor, she had this huge crush on you and would always put extra sprinkles on your ice cream.”

With a blank expression, Eddie said, “She was twelve, Richie. It was a silly middle school crush. Besides, it’s not the same, I’m gay. I’m as gay as they come.”

“And?”

“It doesn’t matter if girls flirt with me. I don’t like girls. You do.”

“Just because I like girls doesn’t mean that every girl who flirts with me has a chance, Eds.”

“No, it doesn’t. But they _think_ they do and that pisses me off.” Eddie replied, his face scrunched up. “If we didn’t live in Derry where everyone is, or at least pretends to be, straight and a guy flirted with me, you would understand what I mean.”

Richie chuckled, “Eds, an entire football team could flirt with you and I wouldn’t get jealous, you’re _my_ boyfriend. That’s enough for me.”

* * *

 

Richie had never been so wrong in his entire life. And that was saying a lot.

It had been a year since that night and Richie was about to find out he was, in fact, a jealous person, only he had never been given a reason to be jealous before.

After graduation, the losers had all gone their separate ways for college. Not entirely separate though, Stan and Ben were both in Seattle, Bill and Mike had moved to Pennsylvania and Bev, Richie and Eddie had gone to New York. At least, none of them had ended up alone.

Less than a few hours after the three of them had settled in their respective dorm rooms, Beverly called them to announce that she had been invited to a party and that the three of them were going. Richie and Eddie didn’t understand how after only a couple of hours of being there, she had already been asked somewhere.

Richie picked Eddie up on his way to meet Bev. They knew it was a longshot that they would be paired up as roommates, but at least they had ended up in the same building.

“Hey, babe!” Richie said, when Eddie opened his door. He looked him up and down and let out a whistle, “Damn! Looking good, Eds.”

He was smirking at his boyfriend, but he was being completely serious. Eddie looked great in his beige shorts and red sweater.

Eddie blushed, “Thanks Rich.” He stepped outside the room and once he closed the door, he greeted Richie with a kiss.

“Just speaking the truth, Eddie Spaghetti.”

Eddie groaned, “I wish you had left that nickname back in Derry. It’s embarrassing.”

Richie gasped dramatically, “Less than a day into college life and you’re already embarrassed of me? I’m hurt, Eds.”

Eddie rolled his eyes and grabbed Richie’s hand in his, dragging him away from his room, “Let’s just go, you drama queen. Bev is waiting.”

They met Bev outside the building and went inside for their first college party ever.

Once there, they realized it wasn’t that different from the parties they would go to in high school, except for the fact that the place was filled with dozens of people they had never seen before and the fact that they were missing four of their friends. Since they didn’t know anyone, the three of them found a place to sit and talk and stayed there most of the night.

Richie noticed there was another thing that made this party different and it was that, unlike in Derry, here everyone was most definitely _not_ straight. As they made their way to the couch they would claim as theirs for the night, Richie saw three different guys check Eddie out and grin appreciatively. This made Richie draw Eddie closer to him with the arm he had thrown around his shoulders and Eddie smile up at him, oblivious to the guys that were looking at him in his short shorts and soft sweater like he was a snack.

Once the three of them were sitting on the couch, Richie relaxed and tried to forget about the way his stomach would twist in knots whenever he spotted someone checking Eddie out. He busied himself with chatting and joking animatedly with his boyfriend and best friend and if he pulled Eddie closer to him or kissed his hair whenever he noticed another guy looking at him in a not so innocent way, he would tell himself it was just because he felt like it.

Eventually, Richie had to go pee, so he left Bev and Eddie and went to find a bathroom. He had to wait in line for what felt like half an hour and by the time he made it back, Bev was nowhere to be found and there was a guy sitting next to Eddie on the couch where Richie had been sitting.

Richie felt his jaw tighten and his hands clench into tight fists. The guy was taller than Eddie, probably Richie’s height which meant he towered over him, even while sitting. He had his arm on the couch around Eddie and he was smiling seductively down at him.  He was hanging on to Eddie’s every word as he talked to him, moving his hands around in a nervous way.

Looking at them he could feel wave after wave of what he refused to call jealousy wash over him. He could feel his cheeks flushed, his lips pressed in a thin line and his eyes narrowed at this guy. That was how Bev found him, minutes later.

“There you are.” She said, then she noticed his clenched fists and his murderous expression and frowned, “Why do you look like that time Ben accidentally feed the last of your weed stash to Mike’s sheep?” Then she followed his line of vision with her eyes and frowned even more, “Who is that guy talking to Eddie?”

Richie growled, “I don’t fucking know.”

Beverly’s eyebrows rose at Richie’s tone and then realization crossed her features and she burst into laughter. Richie tore his eyes away from the couch and stared at her, “What’s so funny?”

Still laughing, Bev said, “You’re jealous.”

Richie spluttered, “What? No. I’m not- I don’t get jealous. I just.” Bev looked at him skeptically. “This is all your fault!”

“Wait, what?”

“If you hadn’t left him then Mr. Fucking Seductive Smile over there wouldn’t be sitting there flirting with Eds.”

“What was it that you said about not being jealous?” Bev said, smugly.

Richie ignored her, “Where were you anyways?”

“Ben called me. I went outside to answer.”

“Well then, this is Ben’s fault too. Just like the whole high sheep running around Mike’s farm was his fault too.”  Then he turned his attention back to the couple sitting on the couch and proceeded to glare some more until Beverly snickered, “What?”

She shrugged, “Nothing. It’s just funny how the tables have turned. In high school it was always Eddie being jealous of the girls who would flirt with you and now you’re the one fuming over some guy who’s talking to him.”

“Okay first of all and for the hundredth time, I’m not jealous, Marsh. Second of all, it’s not just _one_ guy. Since we got here, I’ve seen like six guys checking him out.” Richie groaned.

“Well, I’m not surprised. Eddie is hot.”

Exasperated, Richie said, “I _know_ Eddie is hot. He’s my boyfriend. I know better than any of those fucking losers that Eddie is hot, not to mention I’ve also known longer.” Then with a horrified expression in his face, he muttered, “Shit. I _am_ jealous.”

Bev patted him comfortingly in the back, “Welcome to Eddie’s world.”

He groaned, dragging his hands down his face. “I hate it. I fucking hate college. How did Eddie deal with this?”

Beverly snorted, “He didn’t.”

Remembering, Richie chuckled, “You’re right. And I always thought he was overreacting. Now I only want to go there, kiss Eds and wipe the smile from that guy’s face.” He sighed, “I don’t want him to be mad, though.”

“Did you ever get mad when Eddie would practically climb you whenever a girl was flirting with you?” Richie shook his head. “Then go return the favor.” She said, giving him a push in the direction of the couch.

Richie sat down next to Eddie, where Bev had been sitting before.

“Hey Eds.”

Eddie smiled at him, “Hey Rich. That must have been a hell of a bathroom line, you took forever.”

Richie groaned, “It was. Sorry I kept you waiting, babe.”

Before Eddie could answer, the guy spoke up, “I made sure to keep him company.” He said, smiling down at Eddie.

Eddie chuckled, “Yeah, after Bev left to answer the phone, I must have looked pretty pathetic sitting him by myself. Kyle took pity on me.”

“Not pathetic, though you got the ’pretty’ part right.” Kyle said and Riche scoffed.

With a forced smile, Richie said, “Well, Kyle, thank you for keeping Eds here company but-”

“It was my pleasure.”

Through gritted teeth, Richie said, “Right. Anyway, I’m here now so.”

Kyle frowned, “Yeah, and you are?”

Richie scoffed. “I’m Richie. Eddie’s boyfriend.”

And then to Richie’s surprise, Kyle chuckled and smiled at him, “I know. Eddie told me who you were when I noticed you glaring at us from over there.”

Richie looked at Eddie who was trying hard not to laugh. “You knew I’m Eddie’s boyfriend.” Kyle nodded. “So you weren’t flirting with him?”

“Well, at first I was. I mean look at him, you can’t blame a guy for trying.” Kyle said, gesturing at Eddie, making him blush. “But then he told me who you were, so I stopped.”

“So the whole ’keeping Eddie company’ was just-”

“Me messing with ya.” Kyle chuckled, “Eddie said it was okay.”

Richie narrowed his eyes at Eddie, “Did he now?”

Eddie smiled innocently at him.

“It was funny until I genuinely thought you were going to crawl over Eddie and punch me in the face.” Kyle chuckled.

Richie grimaced, “Yeah. Sorry about that. I was just-”

“Jealous?” Eddie supplied, with a smirk.

“Shut up.” Richie said, blushing.

Kyle laughed and now that the urge to hit the guy was gone, Richie could tell he had a nice smile, “Can’t say I blame ya. Anyways, I have to go. It was nice talking to ya, Eddie. And it was nice to meet ya, Richie.”

“You too.” Richie said, while Eddie waved at him.

Once Kyle was gone, Eddie looked at Richie with a self-satisfied expression but didn’t say anything.

“You are mean.” Richie said.

To which Eddie replied with, “And you are jealous.”

Richie scoffed, “No, I’m not.” Eddie raised an eyebrow at him. He sighed, “Fine, I am.”

Eddie beamed at him, “Oh but baby, you know you don’t have to be jealous. You’re the only one that I want.” He said, echoing Richie’s words from a year before.

“Ha, ha very funny Eds.” Richie said, sarcastically. “You done?”

“I’m not even remotely close to done.” Eddie chuckled, kneeling on the couch and turning his body to face Richie. “You’re just so cute when you’re jealous.” He joked, pinching Richie’s cheeks.

“Okay, okay, I get it.” Richie said, laughing. “I shouldn’t make fun of you for being jealous. Duly noted.”

“Damn right!” Eddie said, settling himself practically on his boyfriend’s lap. Richie shook his head fondly at Eddie’s smugness, then he noticed one of the guys who had been eyeing Eddie before looking at them, face pinched. He tightened his arms around Eddie’s waist and kissed the nape of his neck.

Eddie must have noticed what he was doing because he giggled and placed his hands over Richie’s and squeezed. But instead of making fun of him, he turned his face and kissed Richie’s temple and said, “Now I see why you never complained about this. I might have to make you jealous more often.”

“Yeah. Don’t.” Richie huffed, making Eddie laugh.

Yes, Richie had never thought of himself as a jealous person before but thinking about it right now, it seemed fitting that Eddie would be the exception. He had always been.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this based on a prompt that was sent to me on tumblr. I hope you liked it, let me know what you think <3


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